Law Enforcement

THE MYTH: The primary goal of law enforcement officers is to arrest people and lock them up.

THE TRUTH: “We have a strong philosophy of service to others before self, and that translates to helping people resolve their problems, respond to their crises, and take law enforcement action when necessary,” Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk says.

However, 2 million people with mental illness are booked into jails each year, the National Alliance on Mental Illness reports. And as the media continues to connect people who are committing crimes to mental illness, it may make people wonder if law enforcement is more focused on arresting than preventing these issues from occurring.

“Most jail facilities are the largest mental health facilities in the community,” Rambosk says. “And while we have medical services in jail, that is not the best place for those in crisis.”

Collier County, in particular, is taking steps to divert non-violent individuals on their paths to jail with four key elements: prevention, intervention, rehabilitation and transition back to the community.

In 2017, Collier County Sheriff’s Office created a mental health unit with specially trained deputies and partner clinicians through The David Lawrence Center, a mental health treatment provider in Naples.

Within that unit is a mental health crisis response team to proactively tend to individuals. The sheriff’s department has even invited fire rescue and EMS personnel to join the 40-hour Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) programs the officers take to also respond to mental health crisis calls.

“We have to stop the revolving door of this type of inaction,” Rambosk says. “Just placing people in jail does not help them. If we don’t transition people out and get them to a proper care facility, we will reencounter them, which expends time, resources, money and safety for the whole community.”